This English Nature Research Report no.428 on ‘Estuary Special Protection Areas: Establishing baseline targets for shorebirds’ was originally published in 2001 by English Nature. This 130 page report considers whether food stocks in the special protection areas are sufficient to sustain a healthy population of overwintering shore birds. Specific modelling objectives and simulation procedure are outlined in this report, together with several results scenarios. The report ends with an evaluation of the ratio concept as a monitoring device and recommendations for further research. Over 100 pages of graphs correlating the project team‘s research are also provided.